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Moody's: States face Medicaid budget issues, cuts will affect hospitals

Modern Healthcare reports that hospital reimbursements — because of the end of the enhanced federal matching rate that became law as part of the 2009 stimulus package — will be pinched. In addition, congressional action and the federal debt debate is also causing concern at the state level.

28 Jul 2011

Puget Sound Blood Center, Seattle Children's inaugurate new on-site lab

Today, Seattle Children's and Puget Sound Blood Center opened a new blood laboratory to serve Children's patients exclusively. Located within Seattle Children's main campus and staffed by Puget Sound Blood Center employees 24 hours every day of the year, the facility will bring the lab closer to the patient.

28 Jul 2011

New application process for SAMHSA's major block grant programs

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced a new application process for its major block grant programs - the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant. The change is designed to provide states greater flexibility to allocate resources for substance abuse and mental illness prevention, treatment and recovery services in their communities.

28 Jul 2011

State roundup: Cuomo's N.Y. home health reform spurs complaints

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's effort to overhaul New York state's $6 billion home health-care industry is coming under scrutiny from patient advocates and other industry players who say the administration is bowing to the interests of large, politically connected providers.

28 Jul 2011

U.S. food labelling system has a positive impact

Around a sixth of fast food customers used calorie information and, on average, bought food with lower calories since the introduction of a labelling system in the US, says a new study published on bmj.com today.

28 Jul 2011

Dilemma of single vs. double embryo transfers

Elsevier announced the publication of several commentaries in the scientific journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online on the subject of how many embryos it is safe and proper to place in a uterus, and how best to regulate this decision. It is a dilemma faced by all patients anxiously caught between no pregnancies at all or facing the prospect of twins or triplets. In this difficult place it is often all too easy to think that the latter option must be the best. But is it?

28 Jul 2011

Cardiac rehab can prolong patients' lives and reduce risk of second heart attack

Twenty-eight year-old Alex Holton is an active young Torontonian, but five years ago, shortly after receiving life-saving heart surgery, Alex Holton was unsure he'd ever be active again.

28 Jul 2011

U.S. should address sex-selective abortions

The contentious nature of abortion in American politics is "distracting U.S. policymakers from what should be the real conversation in a country that leads the world in human reproductive technology: whether to allow parents to use a growing range of methods to select for characteristics like sex (or diseases that come on late in life and, perhaps one day, IQ) in their children.

28 Jul 2011

New enhanced MS ActiveSource for patients with multiple sclerosis

Biogen Idec today announced it has strengthened MS ActiveSource, its industry-leading suite of services for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), with the addition of new resources and support programs.

28 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Chambliss on reviving Gang of Six proposal; WSJ on Medicare Part D; Friedman on 'doing this right'

I joined five other senators to identify the difficult issues and make the hard, necessary decisions to address the twin challenges of our deficit and debt. ... Among other provisions, our proposal reduces the debt by $3.7 trillion over the next 10 years, stabilizes our publicly held debt by 2014, and imposes tough and honest budget enforcement.

28 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 27, 2011

Today's headlines include the latest developments related to efforts to raise the debt ceiling, as well as reports about health policy news from the states.

27 Jul 2011

Hoag signs license and implementation agreement for Unibased ForSite2020 RMS software

Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc. announced today that Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian (Hoag) has signed an agreement for the license and implementation of the Unibased ForSite2020 Resource Management System (RMS) software application suite, including the POCET and CASH physician and consumer portals.

27 Jul 2011

BrainTrust Canada to launch national online contest, 'Sponsor My Head'

BrainTrust Canada, a community rehabilitation organization dedicated to being a leader in brain injury prevention, is launching a national online contest for youth 13 and older in Canada called Sponsor My Head.

27 Jul 2011

TMS rolls out MUNI for law enforcement and other government agencies

Total Medical Solutions (TMS), specializing in complex care for workers' compensation, has rolled out MUNI for municipalities, law enforcement and other government agencies.

27 Jul 2011

OR models verify cost effectiveness of hepatitis B interventions

With hepatitis B infecting as many as 10% of people of Asian descent, operations researchers collaborated with a liver transplant surgeon to develop mathematical models that verified the cost effectiveness of hepatitis B interventions.

27 Jul 2011

South Korean group delivers food aid to North Korea

The Korean Sharing Movement, a South Korean relief group, "crossed into North Korea Tuesday with 12 trucks full of flour, marking the first food aid of its kind since a North Korean attack last year," VOA's "Breaking News" blog reports.

27 Jul 2011

U.N. says Libyan capital 'urgently' needs humanitarian aid

U.N. humanitarian agencies on Monday said areas of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, "urgently need humanitarian assistance, including medical treatment for injuries caused by the ongoing conflict in the North African country," the U.N. News Centre reports.

27 Jul 2011

GlobalPost interviews PAI official regarding global gag rule

Following a House Foreign Affairs Committee vote last week to reinstate the global gag rule in the FY12 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog features an interview with "Craig Lasher, the director of U.S. government relations at Population Action International, about the global gag rule, its history, and what making it a legislative policy will mean."

27 Jul 2011

New series of hospital-based adventure books for children

Hospitals can be scary and overwhelming for kids, and Hospital Critterz, a new series of hospital-based adventure books, helps children see the medical world differently.

27 Jul 2011